blog

Coffman Racing Takes 4th Place at Formula Drift New Jersey 2017.

Last weekend, the Coffman Racing Team headed to Wall Township, New Jersey for Round Four of the Formula Drift Championship. The competition took place at the Wall Township Speedway, a haggard oval track with a lot of character. The team started the event 14th overall in series points after a Top 16 Finish in Georgia three weeks prior.

Friday, there was limited practice before qualifying due to the changing weather conditions. When it was time to qualify, Matt was focused and confident. The judges took notice as his qualifying runs were scored as an 88 and 93, resulting in a sixth place overall qualifying score.

Saturday, Matt was ready for competition and his high qualifying score put him up against Kyle Mohan for Top 32. Matt’s ability to drive the car in a very stylish, consistent manner won him the battle in Top 32. All three judges awarded Matt the win, moving him into Top 16 against Robbie Nishida.

The Top 16 driver intros awoke the packed bleachers at Wall Speedway. On his way out of the introduction Matt did his signature burnout, creating a smokey haze that trumped any of the other drivers' burnouts. Matt entered his Top 16 battle against Robbie Nishida and did what he had done on all of the other runs he had made that weekend. He had great angle where the judges wanted it, excellent proximity with all of the clipping points, and huge plooms of smoke billowing from the Nexen tires. All three judges awarded Matt the win, and he moved on to the great eight, where he would face Jeff Jones.

Matt’s great eight battle with Jeff Jones was straightforward. Matt’s runs were clean and stylish, free from error or inaccuracy. The judges loved it and unanimously awarded Matt the win, moving him into the Final Four against Odi Bakchis.

Matt and Odi pulled up to the line for their battle in the Final Four. As the cars were staging, Matt noticed an irregularity with the car's fuel pressure and called a competition time out, allowing the Team five minutes to double-check the vehicle. When the car was delivered back to the pit for service, the team had just five minutes to fix the heated race car. The crew worked feverishly to meet the deadline, replacing the failed part and ensuring the car was ready for battle. With seconds left on the clock, the car was ready to go. Matt went to start the car but realized the emergency power disconnect was still turned off from the tow truck. The power was reconnected and the car rumbled back to life as the clock ran out. Matt was able to rewarm his tires and head back to the start line while Formula D officials deliberated if the repair had met the deadline. Unfortunately, the car had not started before the official clock had run out, and the Coffman Racing Team was denied an attempt at the Top Four battle. Although frustrating, the team understood and respected Formula D’s decision. We are very excited to have finished the weekend in fourth place. Coffman Racing is now sitting 9th in the Formula Drift Series points standings. The team’s next competition will be at Round Five of Formula Drift in Canada on July 14th.